


The Black Keys

by boneswrites



Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Academy Era, Angst, Cuddling, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, peach cobbler
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-13
Updated: 2017-01-13
Packaged: 2018-09-17 07:35:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,710
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9311759
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/boneswrites/pseuds/boneswrites
Summary: Where part of Leonard's family history is revealed through Jim's discovery of the doctor's ability to play the piano. Old wounds are healed. And Leonard really does have legendary hands.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Leonard is known for his beautiful hands, is he not? *wink* I hope you guys enjoy, and feedback is always greatly appreciated! I apologize for any mistakes.

Leonard McCoy is full of surprises.

Jim and Leonard have known each other for over two years, and the younger man was still discovering more things about the doctor every single day. He knew it had everything to do with the walls Leonard had built around him, walls that very rarely and slowly got broken down. Jim was all too familiar with those, having his own castle walls around himself.

He and Leonard have a lot in common in that aspect, pasts too dark to revisit, memories too painful to recollect. All that shoved into the back of their minds and locked away, but every now and then, something would slip through the tight cracks and resurface. They’re good at knowing when that happens to the other because they go through it themselves. They cope differently, Leonard stays in and drinks while Jim goes out and seeks bar fights.

Jim had noticed that Leonard’s been off lately. For a few weeks, actually. He was less talkative, well, as talkative as Leonard McCoy would be, and he wouldn’t tease and banter with Jim as he usually would, no matter how many opportunities Jim throws his way. It’s Jim’s method of figuring out the state of his best friend indirectly because Leonard McCoy doesn’t talk about his feelings. And so far, Jim’s tests have been failing and he’s getting worried.

Jim’s pacing back and forth in their miniature dorm room (who possibly thought a room this size can cater for two grown men?) with his communicator clutched tightly in his hand. Leonard was supposed to be back hours ago. Jim flips his device again, a blank screen stares back at him. The last message Jim received from Leonard was the older man asking if they were on for lunch. They parted away at the mess hall doors, each having classes in different buildings and that was the last time Jim saw Leonard.

He knew Leonard had a clinic shift his class, Jim practically has the man’s schedule memorized, and that ended…three and a half hours ago.

Jim tries to call Leonard with no answer. Thirty more minutes and Jim will do what he’s gotta do.

Jim is walking through the San Francisco heat thirty minutes later, his eyes glancing between the small blip flashing on his communicator screen that indicates the location of Leonard’s comm and the area around him so he doesn’t bump into anyone. He frowns when he stops in front of a closed door, one he’s never noticed before and he looks around him for the first time, and it’s safe to say he’s never been to this part of the campus ground.

Heat rolls in his stomach, tightening and pushing his heartbeat, the worst-case scenario already rolling through his head: Leonard is hurt. Someone took Leonard. Leonard is in danger.

Taking one last look at his communicator, and yes he’s standing right where Leonard’s signal is coming from, he flips it shut and shoves it into his sweatpants pocket. He isn’t in class, no need for the red cadet uniform. It’s too hot for it, anyway.

Jim inhales a deep breath and pushes the very real, very heavy metal door open and steps into the poorly dimmed…auditorium, it seems.

It’s quiet, too quiet, and some of Jim’s anxiousness is replaced with confusion. He takes a few steps into the empty space, not a soul in sight. And then he spots another door in the far right of the room, with more light peeking through. He wills his heart to calm down and walks towards it, readying himself for any situation. What he sees, however, is something he never prepared himself for. It makes his jaw drop.

He sees Leonard, in the middle of the room, sitting at a piano.

No, not sitting. Playing at a piano.

He feels his eyes go wide and his eyebrows traveling up his forehead. All his defenses fall away when the music seeps into his ears and directly heads to his heart. It’s the most beautiful thing he’s ever heard. It’s the most captivating sight he’s ever seen. His eyes move with Leonard’s gestures, how gracefully his elegant strong fingers push down on each key, determined and focused. The majestic, almost instinctive movements of the doctor’s fingers, knowing where they’ve been and where they have to go next. Hitting each key with precision and timeliness. It takes Jim’s breath away.

Leonard isn’t aware of his best friend’s presence, lost in his world, drowning in the melody. He isn’t singing, but he’s humming along and Jim almost immediately recognizes the tune.

 _City of Stars_.

Jim stays by the door, leaning against the frame with his arms crossed over his chest and listens and watches for a little while longer. This is definitely something he wants to remember for the rest of his life, down to the smallest details. The way it seems Leonard’s muscles have turned into jelly, how he’s completely comfortable, and Jim has only seen Leonard like this a couple times. And it’s usually in the man’s sleep.

This is Leonard, this is the Leonard Jim has fallen for, wholly and utterly beautiful.

And it dawns on Jim that it isn’t the first time Leonard has sat here, and it surely isn’t the first time he’s touched those black and white keys.

“I thought you’ve been kidnapped,” Jim says in a low voice when Leonard’s hand seem to be slowing down.

Leonard doesn’t startle hearing the voice he knows better than his own, but he does scoff. “Almost wish I were.”

Jim walks toward Leonard, wrapping his arms around the older man’s chest from behind when he’s close enough. He rests his chin on Leonard’s shoulder and takes in a deep breath, the scent that is all Leonard tickles his nose and makes him smile.

Leonard closes his eyes and leans back into Jim’s embrace. “How’d you find me?”

“My telepathy.”

Leonard lifts an eyebrow and gives Jim a side-eye look.

“I may have traced the location of your comm,” Jim admits, kissing Leonard’s cheek.

“That’s a major breach of privacy, you know,” Leonard frowns slightly.

“Yeah well,” Jim sighs, pulling back. “You didn’t give me much of a choice, you weren’t picking up and I really did think you got kidnapped when I stopped in front of that door. Speaking off, where the hell are we?”

“That door leads to the back of the clinic,” Leonard points to the door on their right.

“I didn’t even see that, how many doors are there?” Jim shakes his head.

Leonard chuckles. “Just those two.”

“Doesn’t make me feel any safer,” Jim retorts. “You never told me you know how to play.”

“How long were you standing there?” Leonard winces slightly.

“Long enough to fall in love with it,” Jim says, taking a seat next to Leonard.

Leonard draws in a deep gush of air and lets it out evenly. “You’re flattering. I don’t know, it just…never came up. I didn’t really want it to come up either. It’s…part of the stuff I keep hidden away. I didn’t even think I’d start playing again.”

“Why?”

Leonard stays silent.

“How long have you been coming here?” Jim tries another angle.

“A while, the stress of exams and shifts took its toll and well, I found this place. I walked passed that door to the clinic hundreds of times but it was always closed but then one day it was open so I took a look and saw this,” Leonard explains, running his hand over the top of the piano. “And once I knew it was here, I couldn’t stop thinking about it. I didn’t even know if I remembered anything but the first time I played on it, it was like I never stopped. It took me by surprise.”

“You’ve still got it,” Jim winks, offering a small smile.

Leonard nods, calculating his next words. “My mother taught me. It was our thing, if you can call it that.”

Sensing the tension in his voice, Jim stays silent, giving the other man a chance to pace himself and speak on his own accord.

Leonard continues. “We would play together all the time, it was our scared place. Whenever one of us would be having a bad day the other would play and it would fix everything, it healed. And then my dad got sick. It was abandoned because we didn’t have time, and then…” he trails off, swallowing down roughly. “And then my father died and playing couldn’t heal that.”

Jim extends his arm and takes one of the hands sitting in Leonard’s lap, giving it a supportive squeeze and relaxes when Leonard returns the gesture.

“They went out to this restaurant that had an open piano for their first date,” Leonard recollects. “And my ma went up and played and that’s when he fell in love with her. So when they got their house, they bought a piano in memory of that. And they played, and then my ma taught me. And then he was gone and all she could see whenever she looked at it was everything that she had lost. It was a curse rather than a blessing. And one day I came home from the hospital and it was gone. I never asked, and we never talked about it again.”

“It still means something to you,” Jim observes.

Leonard nods. “It’s among the last happy memories I have, me and my parents taking turns to play. My relationship with my mother hit rock bottom after he died, we wouldn’t talk for weeks. He got sick during my residency and I was already as busy as one could be, and his illness was unforgiving, I spent every second I wasn’t working with him. But it wasn’t enough. My mother couldn’t look at me and I didn’t blame her. I mean we’re better now but I don’t think what happened during that time could ever be fixed.”

“Was it your first time playing again? Since that time with your parents?”

“No,” Leonard shakes his head. “I played a bit when I married Jocelyn but that too went to hell so I stopped again. And I tried teaching Jo but that…it was too painful. I didn’t touch another piano since. Until now, that is.”

“Why now?” Jim turns his face to look at Leonard who mirrors his movement.

Leonard stays silent for a few moments, gathering the strength to speak the following words. “Because I finally feel like it’s gonna be okay, because I have you.”

Jim’s face softens, tears starting to build in his eyes and he lets out the smallest of gasps. He tightens his hold on Leonard’s hand and his tongue darts out to lick at his red lips.

“I was living on borrowed time when we met, didn’t know where I was going, and frankly I didn’t care much. But then I sit next to you, and I look up and something strikes me, you…you looked at me like no one did before. Not the sad looks I’d get from my mother, or the repulsive looks I’d get from Jocelyn. No, you looked at me with sincerity and no judgment and you saw _me_. I’d felt like a ghost before that moment, no one had seen me in a long time and you…you brought the life back into me. You saved me.”

Jim raises a hand to cup Leonard’s cheek, not minding the tear rolling down his cheek and the crack in his voice when he speaks. “You saved me, too, Bones.”

Leonard leans forward, resting his forehead against Jim’s and wraps a hand around the back of Jim’s head, carding his fingers through the short blond hair.

“It is going to be okay, Bones,” Jim promises.

Instead of speaking, a brush of his lips against Jim’s is Leonard’s answer.

*****

It was the week so Jim decided to sleep in as much as he could. Papers and deadlines have been kicking his ass, not to mention the line up of finals just a week away. He could definitely use the extra sleep, and Leonard was glad for that, he wasn’t going to complain.

It had been about a month since Jim’s big discovery regarding Leonard and the piano and Jim knew Leonard spent a lot of time there, which put him at ease. He knew his boyfriend needs it. They haven’t talk about it since, Leonard’s father and his relationship with his mother, and Jim knows that it would take time for the older man to open up about it again. And he would be right there when he does.

Jim stirred, his senses coming to life when the aroma of something that is definitely not replicator-made hits his nostrils and his stomach growls in response. He drags one eyelid open to stare at his own bed that he hasn’t slept in in weeks. Both beds could barely fit one grown man but Leonard’s bed was a little bit bigger than Jim’s, so naturally they would fall asleep curled together on it.

And then Jim remembers the delicious smell and hears someone moving around in their tiny kitchen. He sits up, finger combing his bed hair and gets up, stifling a yawn and stretching his limbs. He spots Leonard and drags his feet over to him, hugging him from behind and kissing his bare shoulder.

“Morning,” Jim whispers.

“Morning, darlin’,” Leonard hums, the sensation of their bodies touching jolting his nerves. “Thought you’d sleep for a little longer, it’s only nine.”

“I was planning on that but then someone is up to something in the kitchen that woke up my stomach,” Jim chuckles, pulling back.

Leonard twists his head enough to plant a kiss to Jim’s lips before turning back to what he was doing. “Well, you’re up just in time,” he announces, opening the old-fashioned stove door and pulling out a dish.

“Bones, what is that?” Jim asks, his mouth watering at the sight of the puffed up golden food.

“Peach cobbler, the recipe has been passed down for generations, and I used authentic Georgian peaches, not those _things_ the replicator calls peaches,” Leonard answers with pride in his voice.

“You never told me you knew how to bake!” Jim protests.

“Wasn’t really in the mood to bake, Jim. My ma taught me how to cook, too, before I moved out. A man has to keep himself alive and all that. Hold on, give it a second to cool down,” Leonard warns, turning to the freezer to pull out a bucket of vanilla ice cream.

“No,” Jim’s eyes go wide with anticipation.

“You gotta do it right,” Leonard nods, pushing the bucket in Jim’s direction.

“You know this is gonna be a regular thing, right? Even when we’re up in the space, you’ll make us one of those once a week,” Jim plans.

Leonard chuckles. “I’ll do my best.” He begins to slide into the cobbler and puts a piece on a plate for Jim.

“Oh my God, Bones, this is what heaven tastes like,” Jim coos around a mouthful.

“Easy, don’t choke yourself, it ain’t going anywhere,” Leonard shakes his head, eating a bite himself. “I have to get going soon.”

“What? Where?”

“Xenobiology lab,” Leonard sighs.

“But it’s Saturday.”

“Yeah well the professor had decided to ditch God knows how many classes all semester so now it piles up and we gotta make it up.”

“You’re gonna be gone all day?”

“Probably,” Leonard takes another bite. “He missed some lectures too so today has been dubbed National Xenobiology Day. I managed to drop my clinic shift, so I should be back around ten.”

“I’ll try to survive,” Jim sighs dramatically.

“Don’t have too much fun without me,” Leonard teases.

“I wouldn’t dream of it,” Jim leans across the table and presses his lips to Leonard’s.

Leonard’s lips part easily as he kisses back, savoring the taste of peach and cinnamon and ice cream and _Jim_. This is what will get him through the day.

*****

It’s a little after ten when Leonard’s back, the room is extra quiet so he gathers pretty quickly that Jim’s probably sleeping. It’s unlike the younger man to go to sleep this early, but it’s not unheard of. His muscles screaming at him and his head pounding, he drops his books and PADDs on his desk and toes off his shoes and socks, quickly peeling off his cadet reds (or as he likes to call them, suffocation outfits) and throws on lose sweatpants and a thin cotton shirt.

Jim’s body turns towards Leonard when the bed dips with his weight and he blindly reaches out for the older man.

“Bones?”

“James Tiberius Kirk, are you waiting for someone _else_?”

“Even if I were, they would never live up to Leonard Horatio McCoy,” Jim gives him a lazy smile.

“Uh huh,” Leonard rolls his eyes but bends down to capture Jim’s lips.

“Get down here already,” Jim shuffles around, giving Leonard the space to stretch out his body next to him.

A moan escapes from Leonard’s lips and he feels like he’s about to sink through the mattress.

“That kind of a long day, huh?” Jim chuckles.

“Worse,” Leonard sighs.

“I can tell because, well, you feel like you’re sleeping on a cloud right now but you’re usually cursing at how hard the damn mattress is,” Jim reminds.

“Yeah well it’s heaven right now.”

Jim kisses Leonard’s jaw and snuggles up at his side, fitting his head under Leonard’s neck and enjoying the thumbing of his heart in his ear.

Leonard runs his hand up and down Jim’s arm. “You have questions.”

“Hmm?”

“I can practically hear you thinking,” Leonard huffs. “Shoot.”

“You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to.”

“Jim, ask,” Leonard insists.

Jim swallows. “Do you take after your mother or your father?”

“Mostly my ma, at least my temperament and attitude. Which is what made it hard after…we were always butting heads and it went nowhere. I took my love for medicine from my dad, though.”

“So basically your mom is a female version of you.”

“More like I’m a male version of her, but yeah, pretty much,” Leonard nods.

“But when I talked to her, I don’t know, it didn’t seem like that,” Jim remembers.

“Time and age, Jim, she’s much calmer and happier now.”

Not wanting to push, Jim takes what Leonard said and keeps the rest of the questions in his head for now. He’ll ask them eventually, but he doesn’t want to overwhelm his best friend. So he settles and if Leonard senses the other questions buzzing around in Jim’s head, he doesn’t bring it up.

Jim starts to hum, sending vibrations through his chest that echo to Leonard’s.

It takes Leonard a few moments to catch on, his brain almost turned to jelly from all the information he shoved into it throughout the day.

“It’s _City of Stars_ ,” Leonard smiles when the realization hits.

Jim hums a little louder.

Leonard moves his hand and tangles his fingers in Jim’s hair, warmth spreading all over his body. He falls asleep to the sound of Jim’s gentle tunes.

*****

Jim enters what they’ve dubbed The Cave on his tiptoes, making sure to stay as silent as possible while holding up his PADD. He follows the sound of Leonard playing and stops by the door, admiring the view and tilting the PADD. He’s joined Leonard a handful of times, either just to watch him play and get lost in his own world, or to study while Leonard would put together something soft and soothing because it did relax Jim, too. The graceful movements never cease to widen Jim’s smile, make his heart go faster and his eyes swim in tears. It moves his soul.

This time is different. He had told Leonard that he had some stuff to catch up on in the library and that he would see him later, Leonard didn’t think much of it and kissed him as they parted ways. Jim had a surprise, however, and yes, he too has some of those up his sleeves.

A few minutes pass, and it isn’t until Leonard has slowed down that a voice echoes in the room, a voice that doesn’t belong to either man.

“Oh, Leo…”

Leonard freezes, slowly turning towards the door to see Jim standing there, a tear streak down his cheek and a small smile brightening his blue eyes, holding his PADD with a running video chat with his mother.

“Ma?” Leonard immediately tears up. “What…how…I—”

“You’re welcome,” Jim winks, dropping a kiss in Leonard’s hair and handing him the PADD. He starts to walk away, but a hand wrapping around his wrists stops him. Understanding, Jim nods and slides in to sit next to Leonard.

“James set it up,” Nora speaks on the screen.

“How did you…” Leonard looks at Jim.

Jim shrugs. “I had a hunch.”

“Or you know me too well,” Leonard grumbles.

“I’m good with either one,” Jim chuckles.

Nora smiles at the interaction in front of her. “That was really beautiful, sweetheart. I really am so glad you started playing again.”

“Never thought I would,” Leonard says truthfully. “But thank you, ma, it means a lot.”

“When James told me he had a surprise, I never expected it to be this but I’m happy it was.”

A slight blush colors Jim’s cheeks.

“He also mentioned a winter break coming up,” Nora continues. “I expect to see you both on my doorstep the moment it starts, you hear?”

Leonard chuckles. “Of course, ma.”

“We’ll play again when you’re back, sweetheart. I’m so proud of you.”

“I can’t wait,” Leonard smiles.

“And you’ll teach me too, right?” Jim gives both McCoys his infamous puppy eyes.

“Of course we’ll teach you, you big doofus,” Leonard rolls his eyes but his smile widens.

And they’re back in Georgia on the first day of their break. And Leonard and Nora teach Jim to play on their old piano. Nora had put it in storage and brought it back when she knew Leonard started playing again. And this time, playing did heal them.


End file.
